


Forever for a While

by cardiac_arrest



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, brock is kind of a disaster when hes with jake and hutty, not a good combo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 01:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18272921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardiac_arrest/pseuds/cardiac_arrest
Summary: “What would you like?” Elias asks again, tapping on the computer monitor.“Just, uh, a cold brew,” Brock spits out. His heart pounds in his chest. Okay, he’s going to go for it.Elias is nodding his head, hair falling into his face.“Oh, and don’t forget to hold the sugar. You’re sweet enough for us both.” Brock tries to smile pleasantly but he thinks it turns out more awkwardly forced than charming.





	Forever for a While

**Author's Note:**

> guys i dont know how to write any of the canucks. im sorry but i fell down a hole.

Brock doesn’t like coffee that much. It’s too bitter for him and he’d rather not get three sugars and creams to embarrass himself, so why is he going to Starbucks at eight in the morning just to please Jake? Honestly, he doesn’t know either. Sometimes, he really wonders if his friends are good for anything.

 

But it’s whatever. Because even though Brock is quite tired, there’s still something refreshing about walking outside during the summer-fall season where the temperatures haven’t dropped yet. Birds are chirping, various dog-owners and their respective pets clamber past him in flurries of tail-wags, and the sunshine beating down on his face feels really, really nice. Brock knows it will only be a few more weeks until he’ll come to hate the sound of rain, so he takes his time enjoying the warm dryness.

 

He makes it to the Starbucks on the edge of campus within a few minutes, half-cursing Jake in his mind for living in the residence that was in the heart of the campus. He pushes in, the scent of coffee and various breakfast foods wafting towards him in a subtle punch. Brock makes a face, he really doesn’t enjoy coffee.

 

There’s already a large lineup, various college students and nine-to-five workers queued up in a cluster of mismatched bodies. Brock goes, sighing and running a hand through his hair. He taps his foot slightly and turns to take in the drinks menu. He knows Jake will want the most caffeinated concoction available and that Hutty will get mad if Brock doesn’t bring him anything. Hutty’s getting a caramel macchiato for sure. Brock laughs in his mind at the thought of Hutty receiving a caramel macchiato—he’d totally love it. Then Brock thinks he might as well get something too if he’s already there. A strawberry frappuccino it is.

 

He gets called up to a barista within a few minutes. He’s already made eye contact with a baby and induced his laughter with several funny faces. He’s still smiling when he hears “next!” being shouted over the constant thrum of conversation in the coffee shop. He quickly shoulders his bag higher and stalks quickly to the front of the register.

 

The lone barista fixes him with a stoic look and asks him, in accented and monotoned English, “what would you like?” Brock squints a little, taking in the blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes before saying anything. The barista’s name tag says “Elias” but Brock’s mind says _child._

 

“What’s the most caffeinated thing you have?” Brock asks. Then he thinks a little, bitterness doesn’t increase with caffeine.

 

“Uh,” the boy says, seemingly zoning out a little. “Espresso?”

 

“Espresso,” Brock ponders and hums. “You know what, I’ll get a caffè Americano. Those things are strong, right?”

 

“Sure,” the boy replies with a raise of his eyebrows. “What size?”

 

“Small. Or tall, whatever. I never remember those size names.”

 

“Anything else?” the boy asks ( _Elias,_ Brock’s brain forces) and. _Wow,_ Brock thinks, _those eyes are really blue._

 

“Yeah, another tall caramel macchiato and tall strawberry frappuccino.”

 

“Is that all? What’s your name?”

 

Brock nods, “Brock.”

 

The boy’s brows pinch and he mumbles something to himself before writing on three cups furiously. Brock pays quickly, way too much in his opinion, and endures heart palpitations after accidentally brushing Elias’s hand when he hands off change.

 

He walks to the waiting area with Elias’s voice replaying over in his head. Brock’s sure Elias isn’t _that_ young, so he probably shouldn’t think of him as a child. His accent was intriguing to Brock, he sounded Scandinavian.

 

Brock’s little daydream is broken when he hears a rather loud yell coming from the counter.

“Rock! Rock? Three drinks for Rock?”

 

Brock looks up and sees Elias holding a tray with his orders. Elias thought his name was Rock. Brock wants dig himself into a hole.

 

He scurries up to the counter, completely aware of the curious looks being given by other customer, all of whom are probably wondering what kind of bullshit name “Rock” was.

 

“Thanks,” Brock says, taking the tray from Elias. “By the way, it’s actually, uh, Brock.”

 

“Brock?” The confusion is deep on Elias’s face as he repeats the word.

 

“Yeah, that’s my name.”

 

“It’s not Rock? Like… The Rock, you know?” Elias mumbles.

 

Brock takes a moment to shake his head no before bursting into laughter. He’s practically in tears and almost drops his drinks. “Are you Scandinavian?” Brock blurts out before his filter turns on.

 

“Yes,” Elias says and continues to look confused. “Swedish.”

 

Brock makes himself say goodbye and leave before he makes a bigger fool of himself. He’s walking out the door when he remembers the pink tinge on Elias’s cheeks.

 

***

 

Hutty ends up laughing for a full ten minutes when he sees the cups. He’s initially mad that Brock got him a caramel macchiato, but that’s before he drinks it and Brock tells him that he was lucky he even got coffee. Jake is pissy that the coffee’s so bitter. Brock endures the ribbing he gets and dreads telling the two of them about Elias.

 

“We’ll help you Rock,” Hutty says when Brock mentions that Elias is Swedish and looks like it too.

 

“Help me with what?” Brock questions dumbly, licking the whipped cream from his straw.

 

“Oh Brock,” Jake says, all faux-pity. “Don’t worry, we’re sure this Elias boy will like you.”

 

“Unrequited crushes who?” Hutty chimes in and wraps an arm around Brock’s shoulder. That causes Brock to spill some of his frap onto himself, so now there’s a pink stain that kind of resembles a penis on his white shirt. Brock spills the rest of his drink on the ground when he pulls Hutty in a choke-hold.

 

Jake bitches about being in public and Brock is still thinking about blonde hair and blue eyes and pink cheeks.

 

***

 

The next time Brock sees Elias is, coincidentally, the time he goes to Starbucks with Jake and Hutty in tow. The two of them usually hate making it down there in the mornings since it’s far from both their residences while Brock lives five minutes away. It’s almost Halloween, only a week or so away, and Ben’s been wanting to get matching costumes with Brock.

 

Brock takes a seat facing away from the register and instead gets an eyeful of the beautiful scenery of red and gold leaves. It’s supposed to rain later on in the day and Brock kind of wants to cry.

 

Jake screeches into his seat loudly and claps Brock on the shoulder. Brock shoves him lightly in response and goes to put his head down on the table. Hutty makes his presence known in a flurry of giggles and chuckles.

 

“Who’s getting the drinks?” Hutty laughs and Brock knows he’s the one that’s going to be pushed into the fire.

 

“Brock duh,” Jake says, scrolling on his phone without looking up.

 

“So which one’s your boy?” Hutty asks, not subtle _at all,_ and turns. He’s staring intently at the cash registers.

 

Brock rubs a hand across his forehead. “Could you be any louder?” He closes his eyes. “He’s not my boy.”

 

“It’s the blonde one, don’t you remember?” Jake whispers, joining Hutty in the creepy staring. “He’s gotta look all ‘Swedish’.”

 

And okay, that’s quite uncalled for from Jake. Brock resists the urge to get up and leave. He settles for blocking his ears.

 

“You know, you should go buy us coffee,” Hutty blabbers. Brock knows he’s trying to be quiet, but there’s only so much volume control Ben can actually do.

 

“Later.”

 

“Oh! He’s coming!” Ben whisper-shouts. Brock whips back as inconspicuous as he can and, yup, there’s Elias in all his blonde Swedish glory. He never noticed how thin Elias was, but also that _ass._

 

“You never told me he looked like _that,”_ Jake shakes his head.

 

Brock gives Jake an incredulous look. “What does that mean?”

 

“You’re not going to be his type, dude,” Ben nods. Brock makes a face at him too, what kinda friends does he have?

 

Then, Brock realises Elias is walking straight towards the table next to them.

 

“Talk about something normal, quickly,” Brock says, talking straight to the table.

 

There’s a panicked look on Ben’s face as he fumbles out his phone. “Oh!” he says. “Here, what do you think about these giant baby costumes?”

 

There’s a muffled, high-pitched cough coming from Jake. Brock grits his teeth and tries hard not to facepalm himself and Ben both.

 

“You are such a good friend,” Brock groans.

 

Hutty smiles at him, pleased, “thank you. So what about those baby costumes? Look, they’re all fat and stuff like sumo wrestlers. And the diapers! So cool.”

 

“You guys are very loud,” Elias’s voice cuts in. Brock jumps a little and turns to find Elias frowning down at them.

 

“Oh! Elias,” Brock laughs. “Didn’t see you there.”

 

There’s a muffled choke from Jake. Brock kicks him underneath the table. Ben looks like he’s in awe.

 

Elias frowns even harder. “How do you know my name?”

 

Brock points to the name tag on Elias’s green apron. The lines on Elias’s face smooth out.

 

“Oh, I see. I still don’t think you should be talking about diaper costumes in public, Rock,” Elias mumbles and sets off towards the counter.

 

“We won’t,” Brock offers weakly. But Elias is already gone.

 

Jake breaks out into laughter as soon as Elias has his back turned while Hutty sits there, confused. “What just happened?” he says.

 

Brock shakes his head. “We’re leaving.”

 

***

 

If there’s one thing that Brock learned from that horrendous incident of getting Starbucks with Jake and Hutty, it’s that he probably has a humiliation kink. Even after those events, Brock tries his luck and goes to that specific Starbucks constantly. Despite the schoolwork picking up and the all-nighters that he tries to pull (and fails at), he still makes it to that one location day after day.

 

And after all those visits, Brock _has_ learned about Elias. He only works on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. During the weekdays, he’s only present in the mornings. But on Sunday, sometimes Brock can catch him for the whole second half of the day. Not that Brock sits there like a creeper for the whole day on Sunday, he doesn’t. Elias doesn’t even see him sometimes. Which is great.

But when Brock does work up the courage to hold a proper conversation with Elias, his self control wears down thin. Elias is shy, his inner-self hidden by the blank, cold stare he fixes everyone with. He’s funny, moreso in that he’s blunt and that his wry tone catches people off guard. But Brock’s also seen him flourish with children, gentle smile always lighting up his face as he waves to the many kids that visit the Starbucks on occasion.

 

So, really, Brock wants to die still.

 

Because this boy, this _beautiful, kind_ boy, is right in front of him. Yet, Brock’s being an idiot and failing at conducting basic human interactions.

 

Hutty told him to try some pick up lines, but Brock isn’t sure how that would help. Jake is there when to force him to try it, so there’s no shortage of beseeching and subtle manipulation Brock is subjected to. Jake’s even brought a few lines for Brock’s consideration.

 

“Oh! What about this one? ‘Can you pass the coffee and sugar because you just made me cream in my pants’,” Jake screeches into Brock’s ears. Brock shuts his eyes.

 

“Brutal,” is the only thing Brock can say.

 

“Oh come on, I’ll try one on him too. If you’re that scared.”

 

Brock glares at him. “He’ll think it’s a prank. Then he’ll hate me forever. It’ll be your fault.”

 

“Just do it! Oh my god! Don’t think so much,” Jake groans. “I’ll go after you. So go!”

 

Brock gets pushed into the line before he can do anything else. Dammit, now he can’t leave. He’s at the front of the line in no time, staring at the display of baked goods.

 

“Brock?” Elias says, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You want coffee?”

 

“Yeah,” Brock drawls out.

 

“What would you like?” Elias asks again, tapping on the computer monitor.

 

“Just, uh, a cold brew,” Brock spits out. His heart pounds in his chest. Okay, he’s going to go for it.

 

Elias is nodding his head, hair falling into his face.

 

“Oh, and don’t forget to hold the sugar. You’re sweet enough for us both.” Brock tries to smile pleasantly but he thinks it turns out more awkwardly forced than charming.

 

Elias’s eyes immediately flick up, an oblivious look on his face. His brows are furrowed again but somehow Brock still finds it really hot.

 

“So, uh,” Elias says, voice cracked and accent thicker, “no sugar?”

 

Brock nods, swiping a hand through his hair in embarrassment, “no. Nope. No sugar. That’s it.”

 

Elias nods slowly, looking extremely confused and conflicted. Brock pays as quick as he can, avoiding eye contact with Elias.

 

He grabs his cold brew with hurried fervor and drops into the seat next to Jake where he’s waiting.

 

“Well?” Jake questions. Brock’s only response is the sloppily made coffee. “At least you didn’t load it with sugar this time. Let the pro show you how it’s done.”

 

Brock waves Jake off with little regard and proceeds to have a five minute breakdown over his idiocracy. He doesn’t know why he’s always getting peer pressured into doing stupid things.

  
  
  


“Did he glare at you?” Jake questions Brock the moment he gets close, slamming down a strawberry frap.

 

Brock grabs the drink with heartfelt thanks, giving a mock-toast in response. “I don’t think so.”

 

“Well, if he glared at you, you’d _definitely_ know,” Jake scoffs. “Case closed. He does like you.” Brock clears his throat.

 

“You must’ve said something really bad,” Brock turns with a horrified look. “Please tell me it wasn’t the cream my pants thing.”

 

“No! I have more dignity than that! I said I liked him a latte.”

 

Brock sighs in relief. Next time he’ll do better. Next time.

 

***

“Dude,” Hutty lights up. “You should kiss Elias. I dare you to kiss Elias.”

 

Brock sets his drink down with a loud thud. “Are you good?”

 

“I dare you too,” Jake says.

“Are you five?” Brock cries. His brain can’t process what it would be like to hold hands with Elias, let alone _kiss_ him.

 

“Come on,” Jake crows. “I’ll do it after you.”

 

“No!” Brock shouts out, squinting in disgust at the thought of Jake putting his hands on Elias.

 

“Fine,” Jake smirks. “If you’re not going to kiss him, I will.”

 

“What the fuck? I thought that ‘no’ meant you weren’t allowed to kiss him.” Brock crosses his arms.

  
“Then you kiss him. Because I can also make Hutty do it and we both know it’ll be even worse if he does.”

 

Hutty nods along to Jake’s words, as if he’s not being coerced into being Jake’s puppet.

 

Brock glares at them both. He hates the idea of kissing Elias when he hasn’t even talked to him for more than five minutes, but he also doesn’t want either of his “friends” to place a single finger on him either. God, Brock is sick of his own bullshit.

  
  


“Are you going on your break soon?” Brock asks, watching Elias putter around behind the counter. Elias gives him a look in consideration before saying something to his co-worker. His name tag says Troy. Troy nods to Elias, looking at Brock with an intrigued grin. There’s a light tinge to Elias’s face when he jogs a little to Brock.

 

“Yeah,” Elias says. “Fifteen minutes.”

 

“You good? Looking a little red there, bud.”

 

Elias stares at him. “I’m fine.”

 

“I see you’re still wearing that shirt,” Brock says. A few more minutes and he’ll kiss him. He can’t lead with a kiss.

 

“What’s wrong with my shirt?” Elias scoffs, looking down at his arm.

 

“It’s striped.”

 

“So?”

 

“Sorry,” Brock says and doesn’t shut up. “I just think it’d look better on my bedroom floor.”

 

Elias’s mouth drops slightly into an ‘o’. His cheeks pinken immediately, and Brock decides that was a very bad idea.

 

“You’re cute,” he laments, kissing a still stunned Elias on the cheek before running out the door.

 

Peals of laughter follow him out as Jake and Hutty clamber behind him. Brock re-thinks that humiliation kink.

 

***

 

“So this is the boy you have a crush on,” Bo exclaims loudly when he and Brock arrive at the cash register. “He’s way out of your league.”

 

“Uh,” Brock says intelligently, meeting Elias’s eyes with a panicked look.

 

“Please don’t break his heart,” Bo goes on. “He’s really a big, giant teddy bear. Anyways, Elias, thanks for dealing with all his shit.” He leaves Elias a smile and a pat on Brock’s back before leaving to dwindle outside with Jake and Hutty.

 

Brock turns back, throws a menacing look at Bo before Elias clears his throat.

 

“Don’t listen to that dude,” Brock laughs nervously. “Old age has gotten to him.”

 

“Uh,” Elias says. He’s red this time, flush running down his neck.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Brock sighs. “I’ll never come back to this specific Starbucks.” He makes to leave and _never_ return when Elias huffs.

 

“Shut up Brock,” he says. He turns around and yells, “Troy! I’m taking my break!”

 

Elias holds Brock’s gaze, gesturing for Brock to follow him into one of the single-roomed washrooms.

 

“Uh, what are you doing?” Brock asks, heart thumping in his chest as Elias locks the door behind him.

 

“You,” Elias sighs, “are fucking stupid.”

 

That’s all Brock can process before he sees Elias’s gaze trail from his eyes to his lips. Elias kisses him hard on his mouth and Brock’s mind short circuits. He’s finally kissing Elias, after months of pining, and it’s in the Starbucks washroom. He laughs in his head, and places a hand on Elias’s neck.

 

When they both pull away, Elias is still flushed and Brock can finally see those lashes up close. Elias smiles at him and all Brock can feel is heat. The thrum of his heart beating in his chest tells him everything.

 

This boy will ruin him.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. troy actually is really annoyed at brock because he makes elias do no work.  
> 2\. elias always drinks dark bitter coffee because he thinks it looks cool but he actually. hates it. so he just steals brocks drinks. its not like brock minds.
> 
> so, i hope you guys enjoyed that. if you liked this fic, please leave a kudos. and if you really liked it, leave a comment down below. tell all your friends and come yell with me on tumblr @mitcheemarns.


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